Open AccessAntiquark distributions in the proton
Author(s) -
M. L. Brooks,
T. A. Carey,
G. T. Garvey
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/495841
Subject(s) - nuclear physics , proton , physics , quark , fermilab , parton , nucleon , particle physics , national laboratory , deuterium , emc effect , beam (structure) , deep inelastic scattering , scattering , inelastic scattering , engineering physics , optics
This is the final report of a three-year Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The study of quark and antiquark distributions in the nucleon has been a major endeavor in nuclear and particle physics. Results from a recent deep-inelastic scattering experiment suggest the surprising possibility that the up and down antiquark distributions in the proton are not symmetric. A sensitive and direct determination of the antiquark distributions in the proton can be made by comparing the Drell-Yan cross sections on hydrogen versus deuterium targets. The authors have proposed a new experiment (E866) at Fermilab to carry out such measurements. E866 has been taking data since September 1996. Preliminary results show that the apparatus is working very well. The authors anticipate having seven months of beam in 1997, which would allow them to achieve the sensitivities for a definitive measurement of flavor symmetry of sea quarks in the proton